Using Computers in the Classroom

PowerPoint

Best used to present data to an audience

Discourages interaction, but works well to augment a lecture

Allows visuals, audio, video

PowerPoint Presentations can be saved as HTML

 

UCD Web Chat

Web-based chat application written by IT Lab Manager Tim Leamy. Try out Web Chat and other web tools at http://webtools.ucdavis.edu/.

The Computer Classroom and the Writing Process

I tell my writing students to pay attention to the six stages of writing found in Maxine Hairston’s book Successful Writing: Prepare, Plan, Draft, Incubate, Revise, Edit and Proofread. I thought we’d look at one or two ways an instructor can model these in the CAI classroom. For more on the writing process, visit the TRC Online Writing Project at http://cai.ucdavis.edu/trc/trcdefault.html.

Prepare/Research

One of the best research tools available to students from their networked computers is "Lexis-Nexis," the same database used by journalists researching a big story. From any campus computer, it can be accessed at http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe

Plan/Thesis

Consider the Purdue Online Writing Lab’s handout on conceiving and composing a thesis statement at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_thesis.html.

Freewriting/Drafting

Remember H.L. Mencken's advice: "Don't get it right, get it written." Classroom Macintoshes allow students to compose their ideas quickly. At least once a quarter I ask students to turn off their monitors before they begin freewriting, so that their internal censors and editors are precluded from hindering the progress of their imaginations.

Revision and Editing

The following revision and editing techniques come from "Hands Off: Ten Techniques for Tutoring on Word Processors," available at http://cal.bemidji.msus.edu/English/Morgan/Docs/TenTechniques.html

* Scroll to frame a section of text.

* Break the seamless text into units: paragraphs, sentences, and sections to create new openings for writing and to visualize organization and development.

* Develop paragraphs by writing a screenful of text from a single sentence; or place the cursor between two sentences and write your way from the first to the last.

* Copy and paste a thesis sentence in front of each paragraph. Compare each paragraph to the thesis.

* Copy and paste a key sentence from each paragraph, or a phrase from the key sentences, into a list or outline. Consider the order of the sentences or phrases. Try out variations of order.

* Copy and paste a section of the text--a sentence or paragraph. Then create variations on the original: rewrite the sentence or paragraph. Reorder sentences within paragraphs. Create new paragraphs using sentences from others. Reorder paragraphs. Compare the variations with the original. Choose.

* Search for sentence features that cause problems for you: using -ing words, infinitives ("to" followed by a verb), logical transitions (therefore, consequently, thus, etc.). Check the punctuation at these points.

* Create a strategy for searching for a particular sentence difficulty or to check a particular punctuation pattern. Compose the strategy as a list of instructions. Save the instructions. Print them out. See if they work by using them.

* Search for key words in the text. Where to they occur? How are they grouped and gathered? Are they scattered throughout the text? Can you find any patterns to their occurrence? Can you find any variations?

* Exchange keyboards with another writer. Write. If you bog down, ask the other writer for help by typing question marks. Have the other writer tell you what you were writing about and ask you questions about what you've written. Print out both files. Use the printout to help you write a paper.

Translations Between Most Languages

See http://babelfish.altavista.digital.com/